Stranger In My Heart asked:
Word is going throughout the city that I live in about my paintings. I haven’t sold any yet, but they are now on display. A local organization wants me to create a peice of art that they can use for t-shirts for their ’cause’. If I do a painting and sell them the picture (digital) who owns the rights? And if I keep the original painting and the rights, then are they allowed to use the art for anything other than tee-shirts? Any suggestions?
Word is going throughout the city that I live in about my paintings. I haven’t sold any yet, but they are now on display. A local organization wants me to create a peice of art that they can use for t-shirts for their ’cause’. If I do a painting and sell them the picture (digital) who owns the rights? And if I keep the original painting and the rights, then are they allowed to use the art for anything other than tee-shirts? Any suggestions?
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14 users responded in this post
have a contract
sell the art but keep the copyright
be specific what the piece is used for and how it is reproduced
Contact a reputable art appraiser and they will give you a good idea, always check with at least 3. Good luck and GOD Bless
ok first for the paintings, make sure you get as much money as it cost you in the materials, canvas, paint, burushes etc. and then add all the hours it took you to do it and pay yourself what you think you should be paid per hour. and then add 50-100 dollars.
for the design, i would copyright that at, legalzoom.com
you can sell the org. your design for a one time use on t-shirts. but if they use it for anything else you get paid per usage.
OR you could sell it to them to use for whatever they want and the price would obviously be much higher.
If this is a ‘non-profit’ company then you should ‘donate’ the art and any and all future uses of that art to the company. If it is a ‘for profit’ company, then you’ll need to have a ’signed contract’ BEFORE you give them the art, and you MUST outline how, why, and when they are free to use the art, including the ‘presentation’ … tee-shits, mugs, etc. YOU hold the copyright, and you ‘license’ the use and the user. So you should probably see a good ‘contract attorney’ or a ‘copyright attorney’ (call the local bar association for a referral) to get a good LEGAL copy of a contract that you can ‘fill in’ the details yourself.
Do NOT surrender the copyright. You can allow them to make T-shirts, but you should be certain that you are credited (in the image, or at least with the copyright symbol and your name below) and be specific about what other reproductions they can make. You really should talk to a lawyer who specializes in patent or copyright issues before going forward. Pricing should reflect the cost of materials and the time you put in.
Sell them the rights to use the art on a T-Shirt, but keep the full rights on the drawing.
Sounds like you need a Copyright agent.
It would depend on any agreement you made with the organization. Typically you would allow them use of the image for the t-shirt, and you would retain the rights for all other uses (like if you wanted to sell the original, or prints of it). But, like I said it differs from contract to contract. Accept what you feel comfortable with. As far as payment, it depends on a whole host of factors. Is it for a charity? Will they make lots of money off of it? Is it just a local thing, or will it be sold online? You’ll know what seems fair. Don’t sell yourself short.
You may keep the original product and sell them a licence to use the image of your product. Licence fees may be sold to them according to how many of the product they produce. Say they plan to make 1000 items using your image - fees would be charged at whatever rate you agree upon for those 1000 items. If however the production goes beyond the 1000 originally agreed to the licence must be amended to include those items at an additional fee that you have previously agreed upon. Set up your licencing fee to include several tiers starting at 1000 items and working up to 50,000 with a new licencing fee to be discussed at that time. 1-1000 one fee, 1001-2000 next tier, 2001-3000 next tier and so on. Good luck!
Not sure on all the laws, but would think you need to have a contract drawn up as far as the ownership rights go. A contract would spell everything out so there is no confusion or law suits in the future.
As for pricing, first factor in your costs, then your time (labor) and you need to do some market research on pricing for art work. If you are keeping the rights and not allowing them to use it for anything but their shirts, then you will charge less than if you sold the art work with the rights. I would talk to art dealers and gallery workers in your area and see what the market is right now so you can price accordingly. Remeber, there is always room for negotiation so if you price too high you can lower it. But if you price to low, you are stuck and may not get what your work is worth.
You will own the rights to the artwork and you will keep the original work which may have to be processed for color separation in order to do the tee shirts. It is standard procedure to acquire a written contractual agreement not only for your protection but also for the protection of the client. They don’t want to be sued by you if you claim you never gave them rights to the artwork. Be specific in your terms of use and if you can hire an attorney for the first venture. You may and should get paid for the design and also a percent of the retail end, unless you want to waive that right for a heftier initial payment. The complexity of the artwork and the time you spend producing it will be an indicator of how much you should get. Consult with some profession artists in the yellow pages for pricing but don’t give out the information on who wants to hire you.
If you wish you can donate the use of the art to a non-profit. Such a donation may be a tax write-off.
But non-profits frequently have paid personnel or pay for services (like printing, equiptment rental). It is just as reasonable that you should be paid for your services too.
You can also donate the use of the work simply because you believe in the cause and or to get publicity for your talents.
Get a rough contract if possible. Out line that you are just allowing them to use the design for this one time T-shirt printing and all future uses will need to be approved by you.
The painting remains yours.
A professional company may charge from $50 to $100 and hour for art work. But until you are established you may want to drop down a bit.
Copy write the art work. Then you can sell them a lience to copy it X number of times for so much a copy. The value is on you , your the only person that knows the value of your work. once your work starts selling the value will be set by how bad someone wants it.
You should contact a copy write layer.
You price high-its self labour! Value your art./ work
you own the copyright simply by the fact that you produced the piece. As many of the other answers have stated, it is EXTREMELY important to write a contract for limited usage. For something like this, the last thing you want to do is give away the copyright. If, for some reason, you decide to sell the copyright, make sure that it is at a far higher value, because once you’ve sold the copyright, you lose all ability to make money from your image in other ways.
They are only allowed to use your image in the manner that the contract specifies.
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